Conductor Michael Seal joins the orchestra for two of Bantock’s tone-poems.
Thalaba, the Destroyer is based on Robert Southey’s poem of the same name, in which Bantock tells us of a quest in which Thalaba overcomes obstacles and challenges to battle evil.
Fifine at the Fair brings carnival and romance to life. With inspiration drawn from the words of Robert Browning, Bantock sets the scene of a bustling fairground and an intensifying infatuation. In Browning’s verses, we learn of a narrator who grows tired of his wife and domesticity, yearning instead for the adventurous and sensuous dancer Fifine. In Bantock’s depiction, the music’s passion mirrors the narrator’s growing infatuation - before the ultimate realisation that lasting happiness stems from the enduring love of his wife, Elvire.
